Mined from: Badlands region / White River Badlands, Brule Formation (within the White River Group), Pennington County area, South Dakota, U.S.A.

Era: Cenozoic
Geological Age: 28-34 mya

Description: This large oreodont fossil display features a skull, jaws, vertebrae, ribs, limb bones and partial feet preserved across a pale prepared matrix. The animal appears to have died inside its burrow, which later collapsed around it and preserved the skeleton in place. The fossil was recovered as a natural nodule and subsequently prepared to expose the bones.

Very little restoration has been performed. Aside from preparation to expose the fossil and reorienting the head into its proper position, the specimen remains essentially as it was found. The positioning and association of the rest of the skeleton are original to the fossil.

The skull remains the main focal point, with much of the cheek-tooth row exposed and several darker enamel surfaces still visible. The long, low arrangement gives the piece a nearly full-body presentation, while the irregular matrix edges and raised bones add depth and preserve the natural character of the original nodule. It is a substantial tabletop display suited to a fossil collection, office, shop or natural-history room.

Oreodont fossils became especially well known through exploration of the White River Badlands, an area noted for its rich record of Oligocene mammals. Erosion continually exposes remains of animals that lived across ancient floodplains, including oreodonts, early horses, rhinoceros relatives, camel relatives and predatory mammals. The White River deposits remain one of North America’s best-known sources of fossil mammals from this period.

Oreodont fossils are sometimes associated with endurance, adaptation, community and the natural cycles of environmental change. Fossils more broadly are collected as tangible reminders of deep time and the long history of life on Earth.

Quantity: 1pc

With this product, you will get the actual stone in the photograph. We do what we can to buy good quality products and price them honestly. The rocks may differ from the photos, but we hope we do them justice.